Chapter 10

When Joe came around someone was pressing a cold wet cloth to his forehead. It felt good. He opened his eyes and looked right into the blue eyes of an angel. The young woman was of unearthly beauty and her golden hair surrounded her Madonna-like face like a halo. He closed his eyes again and sighed. He had always imagined her to be dark haired. But now he realized he had been wrong. He felt as if he was in heaven. Being dead felt good…except for….except for that horrible pain in his left arm.

He bolted upright, almost colliding with the blond angel. She moved back in surprise.

"Ouch!" All of a sudden Joe remembered what he had come here for. He felt dizzy but he knew he had to concentrate. He struggled to his feet, swaying. The young woman saw that he had difficulties getting up and stepped closer to give him a hand. Then she halted in mid-motion, her face suddenly a mask of horror. In the distance the sound of a truck engine could be heard.

"What´s wrong?" Joe held on to her arm to steady himself.

"He…he….he´s coming." She could hardly speak. Every nerve in her body was paralyzed by the sheer terror. This must not be true, not now that her savior had come. She had waited so long for this moment…

Joe turned towards the door. From above they could hear noise and all of a sudden the staircase was filled with the breathtaking fumes of gasoline.

"He always said he´d burn down the place if anybody found out," the young woman uttered tonelessly. "And I´d be in it."

Joe started to ascend the stairs. After just two steps he was confronted with a giant. Joe wasn´t small himself but the guy who came down the staircase in a storm of rage was a real giant.

"You damn slut. Didn´t I do everything for you? Why are you doing this to me?" There were only a few steps left between the raging giant and Joe. The young woman had crouched down behind Joe in despair and was covering her head with her arms.

"On the very night of our matrimony you bring in that pimp of yours! Didn´t I take you off the street to have a better life?"

Joe was trying to resort to his cop instinct and training but he had difficulties to concentrate on the imminent attack. He saw the foot of the giant fly towards him and reacted with the trained reflex, withdrawing his weapon hand and turning his left side towards the assailant.

For once the reaction acquired in hard training was the wrong thing to do. The foot hit Joe´s left arm and the terrible pain that shot through Joe´s body made it impossible to prevent what was by now inevitable. Joe went down like a stone. The giant jumped over him and got hold of the girl, pulled her to her feet and up the staircase.

XIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXI

By the time Levon was close to the address Carol had given him, he was pretty much out of breath. He turned into the driveway of the property and saw that the house was dark.

But as he came closer he could perceive a commotion on the porch. A man bust out of the screen door, holding a young woman with his right arm in a tight fix. She was screaming and trying to get free, to no avail. The giant dragged her across the porch and away from the house.

Levon had stopped and drawn his revolver. He could not get a clear aim at the guy, he was too entangled with the young woman. Well, whatever he was planning, it was not what she wanted.

"Freeze, police." Levon stepped forward with the customary request. "Let her go."

The giant laughed and pulled her along by her hair. In the doorway behind the two a figure appeared. It was Joe. He was clutching his left arm and he was kind of dragging his feet. For a split second Levon´s attention was diverted.

The giant pulled out a lighter and flicked it open. With an eerie laugh he held up the flame. "You won´t get me, but you won´t get her either." He threw the lighter behind himself onto the porch. There was a fireball, the house exploded in one burst of flames. The impact threw Joe right off the porch face down into the dirt.

The explosion had been totally unexpected. Levon´s index finger tightened on the trigger of his revolver and the shot went off. Before he even realized what had happened, he saw the giant sink to his knees, pulling the young woman down with him. The impact of the bullet spun him around and he buried her under his massive body.

Levon froze. He could not believe he had fired a shot. He ran towards the felled figure.

He reached the man the same instant as Joe. In the eerie light of the burning house Joe sagged to his knees and rolled the giant off the young woman. In the flicker he could see the large red stain of blood on her chest. It had the size of a man´s palm.

Levon kneeled beside his partner. "You killed her, Lundy, why did you kill her?" Joe´s words were broken by a violent sob. "She was only trying to get away from him." Joe´s shoulders were shaking.

Levon touched her neck and searched for a pulse. He found it right away, it was strong and regular. Levon turned to the man lying in the grass and repeated his action. The giant was dead, there was no doubt about it.

Joe had gathered the young woman in his arms, rocking her and mumbling under his breath in Italian. Levon softly touched Joe´s shoulder. "Joe, she´s not dead. That must be his blood, not hers." At the very instant the woman opened her eyes. Joe´s jaw dropped open, he seemed totally bewildered.

She looked around and when she saw her tormentor lying dead in the grass she shuddered and averted her gaze. Then she struggled to sit up. She looked at Levon. "Who are you?"

"Levon Lundy, Houston Police Department, Mam." He smiled at her. But she did not return his smile. Instead she suddenly looked around wildly. "Where is Rocky?"

The words seemed to bring Joe out of his trance. He jumped up and ran towards the house. "Rocky, Rocky." His outcry was one of sheer despair. He was already on the porch and despite the immense heat he reached out to open the door. A sputter of sparks announced the drop of a burning beam.

Levon had caught up with Joe and held on to him, pulling him back from the burning building. "Are you mad, boy? Do you wanna kill yahself?" Unintentionally Levon squeezed Joe´s swollen joint hard. Joe cried out. The pain was more than he could take. He sagged again, his brain dazed with the smoke, the pain, the despair. He only vaguely registered Levon pulling him away from the house.

From afar the wailing sirens of the fire engines announced the arrival of help.

XIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXI

When the fire had died down to a glow the bustle on the crime scene was beginning to calm down as well. Uniformed police officers and the fire fighters had taken care of things. Their superior, Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont, had come to the scene as well, having been informed that two of her officers had been involved in a shooting incident. Levon had filled her in as far as he could but he had no clue what had brought Joe here and how the young woman was involved. That would only be revealed the next day on the grounds of a thorough investigation.

From the corner of his eye Levon had observed Joe. The Northerner was still sitting in the grass a bit out of the way of the firefighters. It was obvious that he was deeply distraught, under shock and in pain. He had rejected to be treated by the paramedics. Levon was alarmed but he did not want to force Joe right now. Perhaps he would come around in due course.

Levon was still speaking to Joanne when he perceived a movement behind Joe. Levon turned his head and recognized Rocky. The cat seemed to emerge from out of nowhere. It headed straight to where Joe was squatted down. The tabby nudged Joe to draw his attention, purring and rubbing its head against the man´s arm.

Joe started up, turning his head towards the cat. When he recognized Rocky he pulled the cat into his embrace. He buried Rocky with his body, rolling into a tight ball around the cat. The feline did not mind the confinement but rather snuggled into the space, purring loudly. Even from afar Levon could see that Joe´s shoulders were shaking with violent sobs.

Joanne tugged his sleeve. "Levon, what´s with Joe?" She seemed to have observed the scene as well.

Levon found it hard to tell her the truth. He tried nonetheless. "Joe befriended that cat. It helped him to feel less lonely. I guess he thought it died in the fire."

She nodded. "Will you take care of him?"

"Yeah, sure."